The fights that Lewis coulda/shoulda fought

[davie]

I've read a bit about the people Lewis should have fought recently.
For the sake of this thread, we won't go over the Bowe debate again, the prime Tyson one, the Vitali rematch and we'll just accept that he loses to Evander in 93, we all know how devisive those topics are.
But there are some names he could have fought in his career that never, I don't see him losing any of the following, but I'll throw them out there

Mid 90s Lewis wasn't the finished article, how would have faired against:
Michael Moorer?
Old George Formean?
Old Larry Holmes?

Late 90's - early 2000, he was pretty much the complete heavy. He could have faced:
Ike Ibeabuchi?
WBO then IBF holder Chris Byrd?
2 time WBA champion John Ruiz?
The flawed but highely rated early 2000s Wladimir Klitschko?

Getting ridiculous now, but 2003, Lewis was faded, how's about in October 2003, he comes in against:
James Toney? (he beat Holyfield that month...)

Not prime for prime, but when they could have actually happened

[SaadOffTheDeck]

I think Lennox is pretty free of criticism. Ruiz? Byrd? bleh

[davie]

I think Lennox is pretty free of criticism. Ruiz? Byrd? bleh

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Lewis fan and think he wins every one of these, just thought I'd put it out there as he was accused of ducking some of these guys.

I reckon a fight between a young raw Lewis and the Moorer that held a title might have been an interesting test and an early 2000s Byrd would have given him a good fight. Lewis still wins them, but interesting tests

[Keko]

I think Lennox is pretty free of criticism. Ruiz? Byrd? bleh

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Lewis fan and think he wins every one of these, just thought I'd put it out there as he was accused of ducking some of these guys.

I reckon a fight between a young raw Lewis and the Moorer that held a title might have been an interesting test and an early 2000s Byrd would have given him a good fight. Lewis still wins them, but interesting tests

He was better boxer of them or the fact that it did not want to fight with them

[davie]

I think Lennox is pretty free of criticism. Ruiz? Byrd? bleh

Don't get me wrong, I'm a Lewis fan and think he wins every one of these, just thought I'd put it out there as he was accused of ducking some of these guys.

I reckon a fight between a young raw Lewis and the Moorer that held a title might have been an interesting test and an early 2000s Byrd would have given him a good fight. Lewis still wins them, but interesting tests

He was better boxer of them or the fact that it did not want to fight with them

Aye, you're probably right there bud...

[Boxing Writer]

Mercer rematch and Chris Byrd.

Ruiz, of course, would definitely be better than Grant and Botha.

Ibeabuchi said Lewis was offered to fight him in the 1997, but rejected the offer. Ike accused him of ducking, but in reality Lewis probably just has choosen much more lucrative option in Golota. Ike was 18-0 then and had only one fight on the big stage (Tua), while Golota was way more famous for public becuse of his 2 fights with Bowe and laso fights with Nicholson and Pou'ha, where he also fouled badly. Golota was very contoversial fighter with huge Polish fanbase in US, so Lewis just made the choice from business/money viewpoint. And in 1998 Ike already had legal troubles. Lewis couldn't fight Ibeabuchi in 1999 after Ike KO'ed Byrd because he had remacth with Holyfield. And by the time Lewis was free to fight somebody else, Ike was inprisoned. So, the only time when Lewis could realistically fight Ike Ibeabuchi was late 1997, and he had more lucrative options then.

[Kalan]

I've read a bit about the people Lewis should have fought recently.
For the sake of this thread, we won't go over the Bowe debate again, the prime Tyson one, the Vitali rematch and we'll just accept that he loses to Evander in 93, we all know how devisive those topics are.
But there are some names he could have fought in his career that never, I don't see him losing any of the following, but I'll throw them out there

Mid 90s Lewis wasn't the finished article, how would have faired against:
Michael Moorer?
Old George Formean?
Old Larry Holmes?

Late 90's - early 2000, he was pretty much the complete heavy. He could have faced:
Ike Ibeabuchi?
WBO then IBF holder Chris Byrd?
2 time WBA champion John Ruiz?
The flawed but highely rated early 2000s Wladimir Klitschko?

Getting ridiculous now, but 2003, Lewis was faded, how's about in October 2003, he comes in against:
James Toney? (he beat Holyfield that month...)

Not prime for prime, but when they could have actually happened

Lewis fought the guys who were out there for him to fight -- including Tyson and Holyfield when they finally got around to fighting him. He beat Holyfield handily in both fights. He would have beaten those 2 any time, but they both put the matchup off as long as possible.. Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, and Holmes wanted no part of Lewis.. They only guys Lewis seemed to maneuver around were the Klitschko's.. Vitali fought LL on 2-weeks notice, beat him to the punch repeatedly, and was winning on all scorecards when he was stopped on cuts after the 6th -- the only cut stoppage either man was ever involved with and they were slashed open with a palm rake... Wladimir might have done better than Vitali because of his sharper straight right that he took out the very tall Derrick Jefferson with. Both their chins were available at that time.

[davie]

Do we think any of those names had a realistice chance of beating Lennox though?

[Stevieb8006]

Lewis resume is brilliant.

[Keko]

He very carefully guided his career because there were not any fights that are realistically be expected.

[SteveO]

Lewis fought the guys who were out there for him to fight -- including Tyson and Holyfield when they finally got around to fighting him. He beat Holyfield handily in both fights. He would have beaten those 2 any time, but they both put the matchup off as long as possible.. Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, and Holmes wanted no part of Lewis.

It's a shame the Bowe fight never happened but other than that Lewis did good.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Do we think any of those names had a realistice chance of beating Lennox though?

I think prime Holyfield takes him, but I must say Lennox was a smart fighter that didn't engage Evander over 24 rounds. Ruiz or byrd? Not if they fought him in a handicapped match. Through the years I've come to my own conclusion that Lewis would have made Ike quit.

[davie]

Do we think any of those names had a realistice chance of beating Lennox though?

I think prime Holyfield takes him, but I must say Lennox was a smart fighter that didn't engage Evander over 24 rounds. Ruiz or byrd? Not if they fought him in a handicapped match. Through the years I've come to my own conclusion that Lewis would have made Ike quit.

Don't think Ike was likely to quit.
He'd be game and lose but I don't see him having been a quitter, christ he still want to fight now

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Do we think any of those names had a realistice chance of beating Lennox though?

I think prime Holyfield takes him, but I must say Lennox was a smart fighter that didn't engage Evander over 24 rounds. Ruiz or byrd? Not if they fought him in a handicapped match. Through the years I've come to my own conclusion that Lewis would have made Ike quit.

Don't think Ike was likely to quit.
He'd be game and lose but I don't see him having been a quitter, christ he still want to fight now

Perhaps, he's obviously unstable mentally. He never was in a moment when everything was on the table.

[BoxBuzz]

Byrd could have happened....but not enough interest/money in it. I don't criticize him for that at all.

Foreman would never have agreed to that fight. He was pretty open about that in his ringside commentary on more than one occasion.

Ruiz would have been a waste of time on everyone's part.

I think Lewis ran from no one. Can't blame him if EVERY option was not followed up on.

He took the ones that mattered.

Well James Toney says he ran from him and that he forced Lennox into retirement. And James is never wrong.

[Kalan]

I've read a bit about the people Lewis should have fought recently.
For the sake of this thread, we won't go over the Bowe debate again, the prime Tyson one, the Vitali rematch and we'll just accept that he loses to Evander in 93, we all know how devisive those topics are.
But there are some names he could have fought in his career that never, I don't see him losing any of the following, but I'll throw them out there

Mid 90s Lewis wasn't the finished article, how would have faired against:
Michael Moorer?
Old George Formean?
Old Larry Holmes?

Late 90's - early 2000, he was pretty much the complete heavy. He could have faced:
Ike Ibeabuchi?
WBO then IBF holder Chris Byrd?
2 time WBA champion John Ruiz?
The flawed but highely rated early 2000s Wladimir Klitschko?

Getting ridiculous now, but 2003, Lewis was faded, how's about in October 2003, he comes in against:
James Toney? (he beat Holyfield that month...)

Not prime for prime, but when they could have actually happened

Lewis fought the guys who were out there for him to fight -- including Tyson and Holyfield when they finally got around to fighting him. He beat Holyfield handily in both fights. He would have beaten those 2 any time, but they both put the matchup off as long as possible.. Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, and Holmes wanted no part of Lewis.. They only guys Lewis seemed to maneuver around were the Klitschko's.. Vitali fought LL on 2-weeks notice, beat him to the punch repeatedly, and was winning on all scorecards when he was stopped on cuts after the 6th -- the only cut stoppage either man was ever involved with and they were slashed open with a palm rake... Wladimir might have done better than Vitali because of his sharper straight right that he took out the very tall Derrick Jefferson with. Both their chins were available at that time.

Why ruin a perfectly good post with the underlined nonsense?

Here is the ringside doctor's observation, and consequent decision to stop the fight.

Interviewed about the fight by HBO, doctor Paul Wallace explained his decision:
"When he raised his head up, his upper eyelid covered his field of vision. At that point I had no other option but to stop the fight. If he had to move his head to see me, there was no way he could defend his way against a punch."

I suppose you will claim that " palm rakes " commonly open up eyelids, as opposed to eyebrows

If they're a right handed palm rake... used against a taller boxer... In a tight clinch where the offending boxer has the slashed boxer in a head lock with his left arm... and the slash is delivered to the left side-front side corner of the face and down to the cheek in 1 quick motion,..the eyelid is the target... The eyelid is also the target of a thumb strike... It's the area most likely to bleed directly into the eye and stop a fight.. Bad eyelid cuts are among the hardest cuts to close. Although I do see them closed up by really good cutmen, they tend to swell up and stop a fight as well.

[Redback Rasta]

Lewis fought the guys who were out there for him to fight -- including Tyson and Holyfield when they finally got around to fighting him. He beat Holyfield handily in both fights. He would have beaten those 2 any time, but they both put the matchup off as long as possible.. Bowe, Moorer, Foreman, and Holmes wanted no part of Lewis.

It's a shame the Bowe fight never happened but other than that Lewis did good.

Lewis really wanted Bowe. But Bowe didn't want Lewis.

[Keko]

Lewis refused to fights but fight with Bowe did not he refused.

[keithmoonhangover]

Byrd could have happened....but not enough interest/money in it. I don't criticize him for that at all.

Foreman would never have agreed to that fight. He was pretty open about that in his ringside commentary on more than one occasion.

Ruiz would have been a waste of time on everyone's part.

I think Lewis ran from no one. Can't blame him if EVERY option was not followed up on.

He took the ones that mattered.

Well James Toney says he ran from him and that he forced Lennox into retirement. And James is never wrong.

Perfect post.

[badkatt]

rematch with mercer
rematch with vitli

[Keko]

rematch with mercer
rematch with vitli

These are two revansa which are supposed to be and I'm sorry you were not

[badkatt]

rematch with mercer
rematch with vitli

These are two revansa which are supposed to be and I'm sorry you were not

english bro

[Keko]

rematch with mercer
rematch with vitli

These are two revansa which are supposed to be and I'm sorry you were not

english bro

rematch bro

[badkatt]

These are two revansa which are supposed to be and I'm sorry you were not

english bro

rematch bro

got it

[GPTM1403]

Only one I'd say he should have tried to get is the rematch with Mercer but then not sure there was ever a chance to make it happen. The rest I don't see making any difference to history. Foreman was a big Lewis fan in his commentaries and I believe he knew that wasn't a good idea for him. Moorer is a straight forward KO win for Lewis in my opinion (I also don't buy prime Holyfield beats him either). Holmes wouldn't have wanted any of Lewis, Holyfield was a pay day for him and less likely to hurt him, Lewis was too big and too likely to do damage for Holmes to want it. Ibeabuchi is interesting but then Lewis had an ability to just box a dangerous fighter in a safety first no chances way. Byrd and Ruiz I honestly don't see being dangerous enough for a focused Lewis to lose to and considering the timescales Lewis would have knocked the Wlad of that period out cold. The worst threat to Lewis, as with his 2 defeats, was himself getting slack and casual with someone.